Hallelujah.

[Shona Dillards]

Shona sat down on the floor behind the very back church pew. Smiling to herself, she opened up the notebook with a small red leather cover and genuine leather binding. It was her journal -- the most sacred thing she'd ever owned, the only thing that she held near and dear to her heart. Now that she was alone, she was free to let her thoughts wander and record them in her journal. Ever since she'd started staying in her room, all cooped up with a mug of hot chocolate, scribbling hard, she'd filled up more and more pages in her journal. It was like she was in her own little world when she was submerged in writing.
She flipped her journal open to the first page and began writing.

Dear Diary,

Oss and Est are in the midst of financial goodness as usual. Mother and Father have been good as usual; not much has passed for 'interesting' lately. I am frightened that you will think of my writings dreadfully boring, and so I will record something interesting for once.
I have heard Mother and Father discussing having another child. Not a biological one, one from Mother's belly -- adopting one, if such a thing is possible. In times like these, I fret that just feeding another mouth will bring the world to an end -- even though Mother and Father always assure me insistently that there is absolutely no possible way that we could have some sort of financial meltdown. I am afraid that, one day, we will crash down completely, and we shall have nothing left to eat or drink and no where to sleep. But enough about this nonsense--I will resume my original reason to write today: a new addition to the family.
I, frankly, honestly, do not think that Mother and Father will go through with the plan. There is barely enough time to take care of one child as it is, for I am always at school and always studying -- there's barely enough time for my parents to spend quality family time with me. However, maybe adding a new brother or sister may actually prove to be a decent idea -- he or she might bring the family closer together, if such a thing is possible. I need to really think about this, and now does not seem the right time to. I need to keep my head held high, as Father always puts it, and focus on my education. The man is forever obsessed with me getting my knowledge straight and keeping myself contained. In his eyes, the only perfect daughter he could ever have was one that was a genius, filled with brilliance and amazingness.
Anyways, I am sitting behind the farthest pew in the city's church, and I must now leave you, diary, to assemble my own thoughts.
I will continue my writings later.

Yours,
Shona Dillards

[Alaya Tiaun]

It was the end of another long week for the young child, now entering the church. It was hard for her to find a place that felt safe, or even welcoming. Yes, there were towns along her journey where many kind and thoughtful people lived but she could not stay. No matter how far and how much she ran, there was always someone close behind. At least that is how Alaya felt most of the time. She never found a place, as of yet, where she felt at home. She could not remember what it was to feel at home, but she knew that one day it would happen; she would belong somewhere. However, today was not one of those days. Right now she just needed a safe place to rest and where better than a church.

Alaya made her way towards the middle of one of the back pews, thankful for the peace in the holy place. She looked around and noticed one other person there. The girl was sitting behind the back pew on the other side of the room from herself. The girl seemed to be busy, bent over some book, writing. Alaya faced forward not wanting to intrude on anyone. She was one of those who were shy at first, and had she had a hard time talking to people whom she did not know. There was not much to do in the almost empty church.

Alaya smoothed out her long white skirt that was slightly torn at the hem. She wore a short sleeved blouse of a light blue color. Her hair was down and a slight mess but that was alright with her. She did not have the time to fix it up before walking into the church. She closed her eyes and leaned her head back slightly. She rolled her shoulders to stretch a bit. She did not realize how worn out she really was until she took a seat.

[Shona Dillards]

Shona's muscles tensed as she sensed someone else entering the church. She immediately shut her journal and stood up, awkwardly scrambling onto her feet.

"Hello there," Shona said quietly. It was about time she'd made some new friends. Shona had always been kept to herself, quiet, never in anybody's way. Now that she wasn't alone, maybe she could use the opportunity to her advantage and make some new friends. If whoever it was happened to be a friendly-kind of person. She could see it was a small girl sprawled out across another one of the pews. Shona made her way smoothly to the girl, hoping that things wouldn't be awkward and that she'd end up with another friend.

"My name is Shona Dillard's. What is yours?" Shona smiled tentatively, hoping that it didn't look forced. She was getting a kind of nervous vibe from whoever it was. She hoped that this girl wasn't. . . dangerous or anything. Shddering inwardly, Shona set herself to not scaring the girl away and to see what was her state of business here, and how she'd ended up in the church.

Before she could open her big mouth, though, Shona quickly thought better of her actions. What if this person wasn't human? What if Shona's information wasn't safe with her? What would happen? Shona's parents would be devastated if anything happened to her, and she was absolutely positive that they wouldn't very much enjoy Shona's possible demise. What would they think of Shona sitting in the church, with another person, and not even someone she knew?

Don't think about that! Shona mentally scolded herself. I'm sure she's a very fine young lady. There's no room to speak of such inappropriate situations. Don't you want to make a new friend? You've been so lonely lately. Mother and Father would be pleased with a new companion, especially if she was a proper one. Don't be a coward!

[Alaya Tiaun]

Alaya sat up when the girl spoke. She was very pretty and looked around the same age as herself. She smoothed her skirt out a bit, as it was a slight habit when she was in the presence of another being. She smiled warmly and nodded towards the girl.

"Nice to meet you Shona. My name is Alaya" She said with a warm sweetness in her voice. She was a very kind soul and never hid that. She did not know how to be mean. Protective, yes but mean and aggressive were not somethings that she knew. She had been around people who were, to say the least, mean. However, she could never bring herself to hurt another living soul. It was wrong and would mean turning her back on everything she held dear.

"This is a lovely town, by the way. Do you live near by?" She asked trying to be nice but not seem like she was prying. She did not want to seem rude or inconsiderate of others. It was just nice to try and start a conversation. It really was a lovely town and she did not see this girl as being bad in any way. Acutely she seemed quite nice. Alaya never doubted her inner feelings, knowing that they never wronged her before.

[Shona Dillards]

Shona nodded and took a hesitant seat next to Alaya, tucking her skirt underneath her legs. "Yes, indeed, it's a beautiful city. I do live nearby; just inside Ost. How about you? Shona gave a half-hearted smile to the girl and hoped it didn't look annoyed. She truly wasn't; she just hated the whole 'having-to-get-to-know-someone-before-you-share-secrets/become-best-friends' thing. It really slowed the whole process down. But anyhow, it was best to move things along now. Shona was desperately hoping to make a new friend now. She had gotten tired of waiting around for someone to approach her; not it was her time to take some action.

Shona felt compelled to let Alaya speak, too, so as not to seem as though Shona was doing all the talking. It would be completely rude to do so. Therefore, Shona would push most of the conversation to Alaya in order to keep the attention away from herself. Though she tried to make herself think that she was doing so to be nice, Shona knew that the real reason she wouldn't talk more was because she was tired and didn't want to talk today. She just wanted to escape into her diary and become one with the pen.